CAT IT38 submission "non-resident beneficiary"

Jewelleery

My children are both one of the beneficiaries to the estate of a great-aunt who was an Irish citizen domiciled in Ireland. My children are British citizens, domiciled in the UK.

They have just received a letter from the solicitors dealing with the estate, and it states

"As you are not resident in Ireland and therefore, considered a "non-resident beneficiary", our Solicitors Offices will be held secondarily liable for any CAT not paid, which is due and owing on your inheritance. For that reason we are not in a position to distribute your inheritance to you until you have completed, filed the CAT return and paid any CAT due on your inheritance".

A chicken versus egg situation. The inheritance is presumed to be sizeable, and therefore the CAT bill will be large (less the CAT allowance, which is group C). My children do not have the funds to pay the CAT bill before they receive the inheritance. So, what options do they have?

What information MUST be disclosed by the solicitors to allow my children to complete the CAT IT 38 submissions?

Will the Irish Revenue allow the inheritance to be paid before the CAT bill is paid, and can they instruct the solicitors to the estate to do this?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

tax_tutor1

The normal approach in this situation is that the Solicitors firm will, as a separate service to each beneficiary, complete, file and pay the CAT to the Revenue. The beneficiaries will receive their Inheritances net of the CAT and professional fees. Normally in practice the legal firm will engage a tax consultant to complete the CAT returns and will then charge you for these services.

Complete the CAT return (or get someone to do it for you) then tell the solicitor firm to pay the liability to Revenue from the inheritance money that is in their client bank account, and to distribute the balance to you.

That solicitor firm sounds shoddy if they can't arrange this for you.